Master Pieces: The Curator's Game

by Thomas Hoving, Kate Learson (Primary Contributor), Lori Stein (Primary Contributor)

A stunning visual game that helps readers enjoy, appreciate, and identify great works of art. As Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a decade, Thomas Hoving brought art to a new level of public awareness by pioneering such blockbuster shows as the King Tut exhibit. Early in his career, Hoving was introduced to the "curator's game." Each week, he and his contemporaries met to examine details of larger museum masterpieces. Whoever correctly identified the detail in context won free coffee: the losers paid. In an imaginative adaptation of this exercise, Hoving introduces us to the challenge and the fun of identifying art, and to the rewards of familiarity with the great works. A section of paintings accompanied by brief essays introduces a range of artists, themes, techniques, and styles, while progressively demanding "clues" are provided to help identify visual details in context. No experience is necessary to play this game. Readers at all levels will discover the fun of identifying and remembering great art. 250 color illustrations

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Memoir, Museums, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2005

About the author

Thomas Pearsall Field Hoving was an American museum executive and consultant, best known for serving as the Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

His books primarily focus on art-related subjects, including art forgeries, Grant Wood, Andrew Wyeth, Tutankhamen, and the 12th-century walrus ivory crucifix known as the Bury St. Edmunds Cross. His memoir, Making the Mummies Dance, details his years at the Met.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun for the first twenty pages or so. I obsessed over this book for a week--had to play it every night before I fell asleep. The idea is that you are given a small piece of a painting (all painting, fifty-something of them, are in a gallery at the back if the book) and you have to identify the painting. At first fifty-something paintings seemed like a lot. But some of them are very famous and already immediately recognizable, and the others aren't too hard to id once you've taken a close look. So, once you get familiar with the works, the game gets too easy to be really fun. Would be great to play with a larger gallery and is a wonderful idea for a book/game!

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really engaging and quite informative. I couldn't give it five stars because, while the format is really brilliant, the author's style is a bit self-important and citations are lacking.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the ending of the book with the full art and summaries of the artists better than the quizzes at the beginning of the book. If I were to read this again, I'd start with the last section and then have fun with the visual clues.

[R Fontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a decade, Thomas Hoving brought art to a new level of public awareness by pioneering such blockbuster shows as the King Tut exhibit. Early in his career, Hoving was introduced to the "curator's game." Each week, he and his contemporaries met to examine details of larger museum masterpieces. Whoever correctly identified the detail in context won free coffee: the losers paid. In an imaginative adaptation of this exercise, Hoving introduces us to the challenge and the fun of identifying art.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for getting to know masterpieces of western art, ranging from Giotto to David Hockney. The book is divided into two sections. The first section consists of 214 details of paintings. The second section consists of the 55 paintings from which the details were taken, with a short essay on each masterpiece and its painter. Your job is to match the details to the paintings they came from. Clues are provided, and there are answers in the back in case you get stuck. This helped me to notice the details and understand the paintings in a fresh way.

[Holly Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun concept, poor execution. The game aspect of this book was very creative, but the art selection was lacking -- Frida Kahlo is the only artist included in this book who is not a European or U.S. male. Would love to see this approach with a broader array of artwork.

[Lillyana · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fun little book to quiz yourself on your art knowledge

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically an I Spy book for grownups. I loved this and I've now spent so much time flipping through these pages and studying these works of art that I will always recognize them when I encounter them elsewhere. Such a fun educational adventure!

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book! Filled with beautiful color illustrations of masterpiece artwork, this book teaches readers to look deeply at paintings with the detail-oriented gaze of the curator. The book is divided into two sections. The fist part is comprised of detail illustrations from famous artworks, along with a short verbal clue. The second part is a "gallery" of images along with a descriptive label about the artist and the particular artwork. Readers are encouraged to play the "curator's game" to identify the paintings in the gallery from the detail image and the verbal clue. I read the second part of the book first to re-familiarize myself with the artworks before playing the "curator's game", which made me wonder why the book was organized in the order it was. I was impressed by how much I recalled from my undergraduate art survey course!

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book. I don't know much about art, and this is a fun tour of some world classics with the entertaining and knowledgeable Thomas Hoving. And the first half of the book is details from those same world classics in a sort of puzzle: you get a clue and the detail from the painting andhave to guess the painter and the painting. It was fun and a great way to become very familiar with some interesting art.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book where you try to figure out which picture a fragment belongs to. The paintings have some information about the artist to go along with them. My only complaints are the binding isn't the greatest for this kind of book, the cover of mine came off almost immediately, and the key isn't always correct. I found one of the numbers was missing from the key, and two others, the answers were switched.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting way to study art. This book gives you small pieces of artworks in one section, and it is up to you to match the pieces to the full work in another section. There is information on all the works included in the book...sort of a visual art trivia. It's fun (but I didn't get through the whole thing; I'll be checking this one out again sometime).

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in art. Thomas Hoving, former director of The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, has written a book that presents fun and unique challenges to help identify and examine fifty seven masterpieces. The book is chock full of interesting tidbits about the masterpieces and the brilliant artists that created them.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like "Where's Waldo" for art lovers. Fun concept. Haven't worked on any of the difficult searches yet.
A better format might be to have the gallery pictures as separate cards - or even just a separate spiral bound book to flip through.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of an activity book. It breaks down artistic masterpieces and teaches you to appreciate the details in art. Great coffee-table book.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a fun book! Like Where's Waldo for art. :)

[Hapzydeco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing read.

[Stefanie Lindeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a quiz or test than non-fiction, but it was fun for art history geeks like me. Made me feel like my education might have stuck after all.